UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO RIO PIEDRAS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF
GENERAL STUDIES
ENGLISH
DEPARTMENT
Dr. Cynthia S. Pittmann
SPRING 2017
Office: JBR 348 x88870
Contact: cynthia.pittmann@upr.edu
Office Hours: Monday 7- 8:30 a.m., 11:30 -1
p.m., 2:30 - 4 p.m.
Note: by appointment
(other times are available)
Course Title: The Human Condition in Literature: An
Interdisciplinary Approach II
Course Number:
English 3152
Credit/hours: 3 credits per semester/ 3 class hours/45 hours per semester
Pre-requisites: Prerequisites
Score of 4 or 5 on Advanced Placement Test or one year of first-year English
Course Description:
English 3152
satisfies the literature requirement of the General Education component. This
course examines selected contemporary topics from the perspectives of
literature and other disciplines, such as the social sciences, humanities,
communication, the arts, and the natural sciences. Students explore the
construction and integration of knowledge within diverse texts and relate the
issues studied to their world. During the course students learn to critically
analyze through reading, discussion, and writing. English 3152 also promote the
development of technological and research skills through students’ involvement
in a research project, where they collect, evaluate, and use data from a
variety of sources. In addition, students improve their writing and speaking
skills by means of essays, research projects, critical reviews, creative tasks,
interactive class discussions, presentations. This course uses an
interdisciplinary approach focusing on selected themes that are used to
critically analyze problems and value conflicts of life as seen in fictional
and non- fictional works.
General Course Objectives
By the end of the
course, the students will be able to:
1. demonstrate
critical thinking in written and oral reactions to texts related to the course
themes and selected from a variety of disciplines
2. formulate
questions that probe the complexities of the themes
3. analyze selected
themes through a variety of approaches and from divergent perspectives
4. explain
different concepts of knowledge in various disciplines
5. articulate
well-defined arguments concerning aspects of the themes and use textual
evidence to support them.
6. compose
expository and persuasive essays that use appropriate language and mechanics
7. perform close
readings of texts to uncover multiple meanings and ideologies
8. improve their
speaking and writing skills
9. refine research
skills, including the use of data bases and the evaluation of sources
10. summarize,
analyze, synthesize and integrate materials from a variety of sources
11. conduct a
research project
12. collaborate in
the inclusion of students with disabilities into all class activities
13. demonstrate
their capacity to efficiently search for information and effectively and
ethically use and manage information.
Outline and Time Distribution
Topics and Time Allotted
I. Introduction and
diagnostic procedures 3 hours
II. Unit on
Relationships 15 hours
A. Overview:
Interdisciplinary approaches - communication, sociology and psychology
B. Locus of control,
self-focus vs. other focus
C. Social traits: courage, compassion, connection
D. Individual
traits and experiences: trauma, shame and perfectionism
E. Psychological types (C.J. Jung)
F. Application to
literary texts
III. Unit on
Culture 12
hours
A. Overview: Theory
B. Change and
injustice
C. Minimalism
D. Application to
literary texts
IV. Research
project (Multigenre) 15 hours
Total: 45 hours
Instructional Strategies
The course resolves
around reading and analysis (in written and oral form). Discussions are
Socratic, and all students are expected to participate. Class activities
include discussion of the readings, pair and small-group work, videos, DVDs,
slide presentations, songs on tape, guest lecturers when appropriate, and
written work (class work, assignments, and essays). In addition, students
attend relevant outside conferences, films, plays, presentations, workshops,
seminars, and other enrichment activities.
Students will
participate and/or attend the Annual Literary Contest and Student Research and
Writing Conference
Required Learning Resources
Brown, Brene. The Gifts of Imprefection. Hazelden.
2010. ISBN: 978-1-59285-849-1
Johnson, James
Weldon. Autobiography of an Ex-Colored
Man. New York: Penguin, 1990. ISBN-13: 978-0140184020 ISBN-10: 0140184023
Gaines, Earnest. Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Random
House, 1971. ISBN: 0-553-26357-9
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer
Within. Shambhala, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-61180-308-2
Millburn Fields,
Joshua and Ryan Nicodemus. Minimalism: Live
a Meaningful Life. 2nd ed. Asymetrical, 2016.
Safran Foer, Jonathan.
Extreemly Loud and Incredibly Close. Houghton
Mifflin. 2013. ISBN: 0-618-32970-6
Supplementary Readings:
Posted on Internet
Classroom
Students must have
access to UPR library facilities, including electronic searches and access.
Evaluation Strategies
In addition to
written tests (composed of both objective and subjective elements) in each
unit, essays, short writings, oral presentations, individual and group
projects, portfolios, quizzes, homework assignments, journals, and research
papers, may be required. Assessment activities and strategies are also used to
evaluate student’s learning.
A. Exams:
essay, oral presentations 20%
B. Quizzes,
homework, blog 20%
C. Classroom
participation and group project 20%
D. Written
work and research 20%
E. Final
project and (department exam) 20%
Total: 100%
Students’ Rights with Disabilities
The University of Puerto Rico, complies with all state and federal
laws and regulations related to discrimination including “The American
Disabilities Act” (ADA) and Law # 51 from the Puerto Rico Commonwealth (Estado
Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico). Every student has the right to request and
receive reasonable accommodation and Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS).
Those students with special needs that require some type of particular
assistance or accommodation shall explicitly communicate it directly to the
professor. Students who are receiving VRS services shall communicate it to the
professor at the beginning of the semester so that appropriate planning and the
necessary equipment according to the Disabilities Persons Affairs Office
(Oficina de Asuntos para las Personas con Impedimentos (OAPI) from the
Student’s Deanship office. Any other student requiring assistance or special
accommodation shall also communicate directly with the professor. Reasonable
accommodations requests or services DO NOT exempt the student from complying
and fulfilling academic and course related requirements and responsibilities. (Alternative
evaluation methods will be provided to students with identified special needs
as required.)
Academic Integrity
The University of Puerto Rico promotes the highest standards of
academic and scientific integrity. Article 6.2 of the UPR Students General
Bylaws (Board of Trustees Certification 13, 2009-1010) states that academic
dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: fraudulent actions; obtaining
grades or academic degrees by false or fraudulent simulations; copying the
whole or part of the academic work of another person; plagiarizing totally or
partially the work of another person; copying all or part of another person’s
answers to the questions of an oral or written exam by taking or getting
someone else to take the exam on his/her behalf; as well an enabling and
facilitating another person to perform the aforementioned behavior. Any of
these behaviors will be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the
disciplinary procedure laid down in the UPR Students General Bylaws.
Grading System
A
90-100
B
80-89
C
70-79
D
60-69
F
0-59
English
Department Attendance Policy Six contact hours of
absences may lower average one whole letter grade. Five late arrivals are
equivalent to one absence.
Bibliography
Suggested Readings
Bartholomae, David,
Anthony Petrosky, and Stacey Waite eds. Ways
of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 10th Edition. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2014. ISBN-13: 978-1457626852 ISBN-10: 1457626853
George, Stephen K.,
Ed. Ethics. Literature. Theory: An
Introductory Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. ISBN-13:
978-0742532342 ISBN-10: 0742532348
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
8th ed. New York: MLA, 2016. ISBN-13: 860-1200663914
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand
Central Publishing, 1982. ISBN-13: 978-0446310789 ISBN-10: 0446310786
Lester, James D.
[Sr. & Jr.]. Writing Research Papers:
A Complete Guide. 14th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2011. ISBN-13:
978-0205059331 ISBN-10: 0205059333
Petraca, Michael
F., and Madeleine Sorapure, Eds. Common
Culture: Readings and Writings about American Popular Culture. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Blair, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-0205171781 ISBN-10: 0205171788
Rosenblum, Karen,
and Toni-Michelle Travis, eds. The Meaning
of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class,
Sexual Orientation, and Disability. 6th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill,
2011. ISBN-13: 978-0078111648 ISBN-10: 0078111641
Amberg, Jay, and
Mark Larson. The Creative Writing
Handbook. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. 1992. ISBN-13: 978-1596472761
ISBN-10: 1596472766
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary
and Cultural Theory. New York: Manchester UP, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0719079276
ISBN-10: 0719079276
His Holiness the
Dalai Lama. Ethics for the New Millennium. New York: Riverhead Books, 2001.
ISBN-13: 978-1573228831 ISBN-10: 1573228834
Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York:
Picador, 2004.ISBN-13: 978-0312422196 ISBN-10: 0312422199
Websites and Electronic Sources
Antonette, M.L. Examining how the inclusion of disabled
students into the general classroom may affect non-disabled classmates.
Copyright 2003 Fordham Urban Law Journal. Sept. 2003. http://.infotrac.galegrouo.com
Heuman, Judith E. Making a good law better: IDEA proposal
stresses greater parental involvement and student inclusion. (Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act). http://infotrac.galegroup.com
On-line dictionaries:
http://www.onelook.com
http://www.dictionarv.com
http://www.refdesk.com/facts.html
http://www.webster.com
Grammar and Punctuation:
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/other4.html
MLA Format:
http://www.owl.english.purdue.edU/handouts/research/r
mla.html
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocMLA.html
Writing:
Writing the
Academic Paper
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml
Avoiding Plagiarism
http://www.writing.nwu.edu
Quotation by Marianne Williamson (slightly modified) from A Return to Love, Harper Collins, 1992,
pp. 190-191.
“Our deepest
fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We
ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous.”
Actually, who are you not to be? Your
playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all
meant to shine, as children do. And we let our own light shine, we
unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated
from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Welcome to
class!
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